External UDH monitor flashing on and off

[whiten]

Within the last couple of weeks my Samsung UHD monitor has started flashing on and off (basically going black for ~1 second and then coming back on). It does this when the display is connected to both the SP4 mini-display port and either of the dock's mini-display ports.

It never used to do this. I've had the same configuration for over a year.

All drivers and Windows 10 are up to date.

At first I thought it might be the cable. So I replace the cable (mini-display port to display port cable).

Then I thought it might be the display. But I bought a brand new UHD display (same type, Samsung LU28E510DS/ZA - again, which had been working for more than a year). And the new display does the same thing.

One interesting thing, when I look at the Intel(R) Iris(TM) Graphics 540 "Events" in the Device Manager, it shows a number of entries on 5/16/2018, including Device install requested, three services added (igfx, cphs, and cplspcon), and Device installed (atgh4627.inf_amd64...). While I don't know for sure, I think this is about the time frame that the issue started to appear.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[jnjroach]

Sounds like an update video driver was installed...you could rollback to an earlier version through device manager...

 

[whiten]

Thanks for the reply. There was no rollback option (grayed out). I uninstalled the driver (including deleting files), rebooted, then let W10 search for a new driver. It reinstalled the same version.

Same problem....

There were no events in the event log for that driver prior to the ones I mentioned to start with (5/16/2018), but it did have events today for the deletion of the driver and the reinstall.

I've had this SP4 for about 18 months, and the display for about that same amount of time.

Should there be a different driver? Maybe on 5/16/2018 a driver was installed, but it overwrote the default?

Or now that I think about it, wasn't there a big W10 update about that time? I'll do some searching after this.

 

[whiten]

Yes, again, it's likely that the last major W10 update could be the cause (IMHO). The web says it started rolling out on 1803 (10.0.17134) around the end of April. I'll bet I updated my system on May 18th (is there a way to check that)?

Is there a way I can still try whatever driver was used prior to 1803?

 

[whiten]

Anybody have any ideas about this? I'm glad to try something else. But I wonder if someone could do a test with any UHD display with the latest release of drivers. Or maybe it's just the Samsung UHD?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. I've gone from a nice usable dual-display system when I'm at my desk to the limited display of the SP4.

I love the SP4, but this really is a disappointing development!

Thanks!

 

[MikemanSP4]

I have had this same issue before and what it ended up being for me was - The USB adapter running from the SP4 to HDMI - Once I replaced it, it worked fine. Have you tried connecting your SP4 to a different monitor? Have you installed / removed / re-installed the Microsoft Display Link Drivers. I understand you may not need this, but it may help hammer out your issue. Hope this helps a little.

Display Link Adapter Info / Download Link
Windows

 

[TomReardon]

I am having similar issues.
About 6 months ago, my mini display port started with the flashing. I contacted Microsoft and after 90 minutes, it was determined the port was bad.
Microsoft replaced my SP4 as it was under warranty.
I started having the same issues again - in front of an all day audience of 50 people. Very aggravating. When connected to a projector via an HDMI cable with adapter, it flashed about every 10 seconds. Not usable.

When I got home I tried hooking up to my monitor via VGA. It worked.

This time it is not under warranty.

What can be done??

 

[MikemanSP4]

In zero Attempt to frustrate you - When at your all day audience, did you use the same Cable to connect the projector? Sometimes the SP4 HDMI Adapter is "picky" when it comes to which HDMI cable is being utilized (I always bring my own "know good" cable, just in case)

Additionally - I have bought both the cheap SP4 - HDMI adapter ($14) and the actual Microsoft Adapter. The cheaper one I got from Amazon, after about 15-30 minutes of use, will drop the picture and cause both flashing and eventually end up in a complete loss. Whereas, the $50 Microsoft HDMI adapter runs solid, for hours on end, without interruption. Please pardon me if you have already troubleshot the adapter/cable issue.

 

[TomReardon]

I bought the Microsoft adapters only - VGA and HDMI. I wasn't going to take a "chance" with a third party adapter. Thanks for the suggestion. Going to Microsoft store today and talk to them about this.